Voges & Marsh pile on runs, then WI top order leave Bravo to restore modicum of self respect: T1D3

West Indies 6/207 (65ov, Bravo 94*/159b/17x4, Roach 31*/89b/3x4)  trail Australia 4/583d (114ov, Voges 269*/285b/33x4, S Marsh 182/266b/1x6 15x4, Warner 64, Warrican 28-1-158-3) by 376 runs: T1/3 D2/5 at Hobart.

Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh continued to dominate a lacklustre West Indies team, adding a further 132 - 449 in total - and breaking many more records before they were parted. 

When West Indies batted there were a few flickers, and one pillar - Dwayne Bravo- of resistance against a generally tight (if James Pattinson looked a tad underdone) Australia attack. Nathan Lyon bowled particularly well (and took a great return catch) before Bravo and Kemar Roach showed a bit of backbone and began to restore a little self respect to their team. 

6/119 ( the last a wrong but unreviewed lbw decision against Jason Holder) looked like unconditional surrender; 6/207 may save some WI face but is unlikely to prevent an Australian victory.

South Africa win T3 as tempers flare

South Africa 349 (A Prince 78*,AB de Villiers 73, Smith 70, S Benn 6/81) & 3/49 def West Indies 231 (D Bravo 61, J Botha 4/56) & 161 (S Chanderpaul 71*) by 7 wickets. T#3/3 at Bridgetown, Barbados. South Africa won series 2-0.

In the end South Africa won comfortably a Test which was increasingly acrimoniously contested.

The pitch which, unlike that in the drawn preceding T#2, gave some help to the bowlers. West Indies, who were forced to include an inexperienced quick bowler Brandon Bess for his debut, relied too much on their veterans.

Only Dwayne Bravo and Shiv Chanderpaul with the bat and Sulieman Benn with the ball kept West Indies from an even bigger trouncing. As for all the badmouthing, spitting etc I'll only say that even watching the last day's highlights on TV left a bitter taste in my mouth.

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Proteas win as tempers flare - Cricket - Fox Sports

West Indies fight back and make Australia turn up tomorrow ...

West Indies 312 & 308/9 (91 ov) need another 51 runs with 1 wicket remaining to defeat Australia 520/7d & 150 (51.3 ov): T3 D4 at Perth

Neither Chris Gayle (21) nor Travis Dowlin (22) nor Ramnaresh Sarwan (11) nor Dwayne Bravo (1) contributed much to the West Indies second innings, but Narsingh Deonarine (82/171b,2x6,10x4) and Brendan Nash (65/183b, 7x4) did, and in doing so gave Australia cause for concern by batting resolutely (perhaps, in Nash's case it could be said, too resolutely) through the afternoon session and beyond.

It was a great struggle - I say was because nobody in their right mind would believe that nos 10 and 11 can score another 51 runs against a refreshed attack tomorrow. Even surviving today, which the Australians extended by an extra half hour to try to claim a victory, will gain the Windies a few points with cricket followers and give the home team cause to reflect. There is no doubt which side has improved the most since the first day of the series.

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Bowlers' turn

Australia 7/520 dec @ 8/137 (47ov) lead West Indies 312 (81 ov, C Gayle 102, T Dowlin 55, D Bollinger 5/70) by 345 runs with 2 second inns wkts in hand: T3 D3 at Perth.

On the first two days 9 wickets fell for 634 runs. Day 3 was bowlers' day for both teams as 16 went down for 235 (WI losing 8/98, Aust 8/137).

The West Indies batting collapse was reminiscent of the First Test so didn't come entirely out of the blue. The pitch played a few tricks, and will probably get worse, but the batting after Chris Gayle's dismissal lacked the technique and apparently (Brendan Nash excepted) the determination to tough it out. Which made their revival with the ball, pitch assistance notwithstanding, all the more surprising. All the bowlers performed with the livewire Dwayne Bravo 3/34 from 15 overs outstanding and Sulieman Benn 2/26 from 9 .

What about Australia? Doug Bollinger deserved his 5 wickets, while Nathan Hauritz persisted well. he didn't extract as much spin as did Benn but his accuracy and variation were better. Of the batting the less said the better, though I will say how troubled Ricky Ponting looked when he came to the crease at no9 with the total 125. His elbow injury must be serious for him to hold himself back so far: it was the heart rather than the head which influenced this decision, just as it was the head which made him decide against enforcing the follow on.

Good as it was to see the Windies revival I think that when several factors, including the condition of the pitch and the inconsistency of their batting, are weighed up Australia should be able to win from here. Of course if there was another blinder from Gayle...or solid knocks from a few others...


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